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In case you haven't yet seen the movie, let me set the scene: As Gru is sneaking out of Vector's lair, he gets caught in the dark. Fortunately, his trusty minions are there with him. Grabbing the nearest minion, he gives it a squeeze and a quick shake, and suddenly the minion is glowing in the dark just like a light stick.

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

A normal light stick is basically a plastic tube filled with a two chemicals plus a florescent dye. One of the chemicals is inside of a glass tube within the light stick, keeping the chemicals separate until you're ready to use it. By bending the light stick, you break the glass tube containing the second chemical, which allows the two chemicals to mix together. These two chemicals react together, releasing energy. That energy is then absorbed by the fluorescent dye.

If you think I'm being deliberatley vague about the identify of these two chemicals, you're right...